gaetano



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheen 2.

S. De GAETANO. Pool' Ball-Frame.

No. 228,879. Patented 1une'15',188o.

JMC ff/wb ".PETER, PHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHXNGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT Erick.

STEPHEN DE GAETANO, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO HUGH W. OOLLENDER, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

POOL-BALL FRAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,879, dated June 15, 1880.

Application tiled March 25, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN DE GAETANO, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Triangles or Pool-Ball Frames; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Previous to my invention it has been customary to make the triangular ball-holders used in placing the balls for the game of fifteen-ball pool7 (and other games played with fifteen balls) on billiard tables of three straight strips or pieces of Wood joined at their adjacent ends to form the angles ofthe frame, and to strengthen the frame at these angles by interiorlyplaced corner-blocks, glued or otherwise fastened in, and sometimes to further strengthen the angles or corners by metallic angle-plates applied exteriorly to the frame. It is very desirable to have these ball-frames or triangles made as light as possible, and at the same time sufficiently strong and durable to withstand `keeper) of the triangle on the table with one of its corners or angles striking first, the latter being apt to cut or lnar the cloth. More especially is this so in the use of triangles having the metallic exterior corner-plates, an d the latter are used always by some manufacturers.

My invention has for its object to`produce a triangle or ball-frame which can be made much lighter, and also much stronger and more durable, than those heretofore manufactured, while at the same time its manufacture can be accomplished at much less cost than that of the construction or kind of frames heretofore made, and in its use it will be free of all the objections foundin the use of the old-fashioned ball-frame.

To these ends and objects my invention consists in a triangle or ball-frame composed of several layers or thin strips of wood bent round into the requisite shape and glued (or otherwise fastened) together, all as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to more fully describe it, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and in which I have shown a ball-frame made as suggested above. and have also illustrated the previous mode of construc tion of triangles.

Figure I is a plan view of my new frame, representing it as in use on a billiard-table for the purpose ot' properly placing the fifteen balls for starting the game of pool. Fig. 2 is .a side or edge view of the same; and Fig. S'is a horizontal section of the frame, taken at the line a: :c of Fig. 2. Figs. et and 5 are respectively a partial top and edge view ot' the oldt'ashioned triangle.

From Figs. 1, 2, and 3 it will be seen that my new frame lis composed of several or numerous strips or thin layers of wood, or of several strips of veneer,wl1ich are placedin close contact and perfectly united throughout their lengths, by preference in such an arrangement that no two of the end jointures of the strips occur at the same locality.

As clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, my improved ball-frame, instead of having angles, has three rounded corners, so to speak, the circular curvature of each ot' which (at the inner surface of the frame) should correspond substantially with the the use of a frame the foremost corner of which projects farther beyond the spot and in the form of an acute angle.

By preference the several layers or strips of Wood composing the frame have their ends joined, as seen at a b c, Fig. 3, at different localities, so as to break joints, whereby greater strength and durability in the aggregation are attained. In the manufacture thus of theframe the several layers of wood may be either successively bent round the outside of a properlyshaped former and bc clamped thereon by any proper means, or they maybe placed within a proper shaped female former and be forced and held therein by means of an expanding` interior clamping device or other means, the method and means of manufacture being imA material to my iuvention so long as by them the product shall be a frame ot' the proper shape formed of a series of bent strips of thin wood, the en ds of each of which are brought together, and all of which are securely united superiicially to each other.

By the formation thus of the frame it will be seen all angles or sharp corners are avoided, and the frame is made practically of a continuous band, (or hoop-like,`) instead ot' with three separate pieces joined at the three corners.

The use of several layers or strips glued together, with the directions of the grain of wood naturally varyin g, of course renders the structure stronger than it would be if made of a single thickness bent round into shape, while the formation of the frame thus of the several very thin' strips of wood in lieu ofl one thick strip avoids the undue strain that would necessarily arise at the corner bends of a thick strip, and the consequent liability of any fracture o1' split in the wood at such localities; and not only is my improved frame therefore much stronger, more durable, and-in` all other respects more desirable than the kind heretofore made, but it is so extremely light and of such form that no blow struck the cloth by letting the frame fall on the table can harm the latter in the least, while at the same time the cost of manufacture is so infinitely less that the improved frame can be sold for about one-fifth the price ofthe less desirable one. Indeed, they can be sold at this reduction of price when made with outer veneers of some handsome and expensive wood, as against the oldfashionedconstruction of frame made of very cheap wood. y

A careful observation of Figs; 4 and 5 will show that the hand-labor necessary only for the adaptation to and sccurement on frame of the interior corner-blocks, g, and metal angleplates or shoe-pieces k must far exceed the cost of manufacture of my entire contrivance, the stock of which may be all gotten out by machinery, and only requires to be bent round a former and have the several layers cemented together. The height of the frame (that is,the width of the bands or strips composing it) is of course about the same as that of the usual baILframe.

Having now suiiiciently explained the construction and character of my improved ballframe to enable any one skilled in the art to which my invention relates to make and use my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A ball-frame or triangle composed of wood or other suitable material and formed with three interior and exterior curved or rounded corners, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A ball-frame having curved or rounded corners and made of a series of layers of wood bent into triangular shape and having their adjacent surfaces glued or otherwise fastened together, as and lfor the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my vhand this 15th day of March, 1880.

STEPHEN DE GAETANO.

In presence of Isaac McDoUGAL, WM. H. WIGGINs. 

